Nestlé documents say most of its food combinations are unhealthy

Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, admitted that more than 60% of its mainstream food and beverage products do not meet the “recognized definition of health” and that “some of our categories and products will not be’healthy’ in any way.” How much have we refurbished”.

The British “Financial Times” saw that a report circulated among executives this year stated that under Australia’s health star rating system, Nestlé’s food and beverages (excluding pet food and professional medical nutrition products) only 37 % Of income reached a rating of 3.5 or higher.

The system scores food with five stars and is used in research by international organizations such as the Nutrition Access Foundation. Nestlé, the maker of KitKat, Maggi noodles and Nescafe coffee, described the 3.5-star threshold as “the accepted definition of health.”

According to the report, in its overall food and beverage product portfolio, about 70% of Nestlé’s food products failed to meet this threshold, 96% of beverages (excluding pure coffee) and 99% of Nestlé’s confectionery and ice cream product portfolios did not meet this threshold. This standard.

Water and dairy products score higher, with 82% of water and 60% of dairy products reaching the threshold.

“We have made significant improvements to the product… [but] In an environment of regulatory pressure and surge in consumer demand, our portfolio still underperforms, compared to external health definitions,” the presentation said.

The data does not include infant formula, pet food, coffee, and health science departments, which make food for people with specific diseases. This means that these figures account for about half of Nestlé’s 92.6 billion Swiss francs (72.7 billion pounds) annual revenue.

These findings are made in the fight between food manufacturers and global efforts to fight obesity and promote healthier diets. Nestlé executives are considering what new commitments to make in nutrition and plan to announce the plan this year.

The group is also updating its internal nutrition standard, the Nestlé Nutrition Foundation, which was introduced by former CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, who described Nestlé as “nutrition, health and Health company”.

According to people familiar with the matter, one option might be to cancel or replace the standards for products that are considered snacks, such as candy.

CEO Mark Schneider (Mark Schneider) recognition Consumers want healthier diets, but they refuse to accept that “processed” foods produced by Nestlé and other multinational companies are often unhealthy.

However, the presentation focused on Nestlé’s products, such as the DiGiorno three-meat croissant crust pizza, which included about 40% of a person’s daily recommended intake and 48% of the Hot Pockets pepperoni pizza.

Another product, an orange-flavored San Pellegrino drink with a score of “E”-the worst number obtained according to different scoring systems Nutri-Score-contains more than 7.1 grams of sugar per 100 ml, demo The manuscript said and asked: Healthy Advance Brand brings E [rating]? ”

In addition, Nestlé’s strawberry-flavored Nesquik sold in the United States, Contains 14 grams of sugar A small amount of coloring and flavoring is added to 14 grams, although it is designed to be mixed with milk. It is described as “the perfect breakfast to prepare the kids for the day”.

Nestlé stated that it “is embarking on a company-wide project to update its pioneering nutrition and health strategy. We review our entire product portfolio at different stages of people’s lives to ensure that our products help meet their needs. Nutrition requirements and support a balanced diet.

“Our efforts are based on decades of work… For example, in the past 20 years, we have drastically reduced the sugar and sodium content in our products, by 14-15 in the past seven years alone. %.”

Marion Nestle (unrelated), a visiting professor of nutritional sciences at Cornell University, said that Nestlé and its competitors will work hard to keep their portfolios overall healthy.

“The job of a food company is to create capital for shareholders, and to create as much capital as possible as quickly as possible. They will sell products that will attract the masses and be bought by as many people as possible, and that people want to buy, and that is junk food. ,”she says.

“Nestlé is a very smart company, at least from my meetings with people who work in science[departments]… But they have a real problem. .. For many years, scientists have been trying to find how to reduce the salt and sugar content without changing the flavor profile. Guess what, this is difficult to do. “

Some products that are considered healthy, such as plant-based meat substitutes, are areas where food manufacturers are growing strongly. Nestlé has sold some departments that produce less healthy products. For example, it held a 60% stake in Herta’s deli department in 2019.

In the 2018 Index of Efforts to Encourage Improved Diets compiled by the Access to Nutrition Foundation, Nestlé ranked first among the world’s large food and beverage manufacturers, but the foundation warned that “all companies need to do more.”

Nestlé said: “In recent years, we have launched thousands of products for children and families that meet external nutritional standards. We have also distributed billions of doses of micronutrients through our affordable nutritional products.”

It added: “We believe that a healthy diet means finding a balance between happiness and enjoyment. This includes leaving some space for indulgent foods and eating them in moderation.

“Our travel direction has not changed, and it is clear: we will continue to make our product portfolio more delicious and healthier.”